Google Maps and Geo Targeting Your Websites

Google Maps is the #1 organic advertising tool for most car dealers but how Google Maps actually works is a mystery to many of us in the SEO community.  For example, one New Jersey car dealer's Google Maps listing is displayed over 17,000 a month.

What has been a challenge for many car dealers is determining why certain car dealer listings show in Google Maps when consumers do a county or statewide search.  I have tested hundreds of scenarios where a Google Local Business listing is correct but it does not show for searches that you would expect it to appear.

With GPS enabled mobile phones and geo targeted search marketing applications like FourSquare.com on the rise, I started to look into how websites are geo-targeted.  It started with a conversation with Alex Snyder at Checkered Flag because all his dealer websites are a sub-domain off of www.checkeredflag.com and not on a standalone domain name.  What that means is that Checkered Flag Toyota is located at http://toyota.checkeredflag.com and not on www.checkeredflagtoyota.com.

In the case of all the Checkered Flag store websites, they are hosted off a primary domain and Google Maps was not behaving properly for some of the store listings.  As Alex and I discussed this matter, Alex took it on his own initiative to see how other franchise chains handled mapping multiple stores off a central website.

Alex found that Best Buy (www.bestbuy.com) had a directory page for each store in their chain and that each page showed very well in organic search as well as in Google Maps.  When we looked deeper, we found that each store listing page had implemented GEO tags on the page using longitude and latitude settings.

When I searched for the Best Buy store in Eatontown New Jersey the top search result was: Best Buy in Eatontown, NJ - 50 State Route 36 - Electronics, Appliances & More .  You will notice that just like Checkered Flag, all the stores are pages in a sub-domain but Best Buy was NOT having any issue with Google Maps and search results.

When you view the source code for this page two things jumped out at me; one line in the HEAD and one line in an H1 tag:

• xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#"
  
• <h1 property="geo:lat_long" content="40.2908597,-74.0503975">Best Buy - Eatontown</h1>

It looks like Best Buy added GEO tags to their store location in the H1 tag. This was the first time I saw GEO tags in an H1 tag, which got me motivated to take some time into understanding the purpose of the GEO tags.

My research showed that there are a few ways to implement GEO tagging, one is using this W3 syntax formatting and a second way was using META tags.

GEO Tagging In WordPress

I asked my WordPress programming team how they would implement GEO tagging in a php environment and after some research, they decided that it would be better to add the GEO tags in the META data.



So we created a WordPress plug-in that allows the longitude and latitude to be entered via the control panel.   With this plug-in installed, WordPress microsites will turn this data into commands in the HEAD tags of the website pages.  These are the tags for our Boston car dealers website at www.bostondealers.org:

<meta name="ICBM"          content="42.3583333,-71.0602778">
<meta name="geo.position"  content="42.3583333;-71.0602778">
<meta name="geo.placename" content="Boston">
<meta name="geo.region"    content="MA">

Car Dealer Website Platforms Should Add GEO Tags

I'm writing this article because I want to challenge the automotive website community to implement GEO tagging for car dealer websites.  The ideal tags for dealer websites should be the EXACT latitude and longitude that Google Maps displays for their local business listing

With a tsunami of website applications that are GEOP aware, I think it will be important for car dealers to have the correct GEO tags on their websites.

Getting The Correct GEO Tags For Your Store

You can get the latitude and longitude from your Google Local Business listing by following the steps below:

1.  Search your business name so that Google Maps appear
2.  Copy the EXACT street address you have displayed on your business listing.



3.  Go To Google Maps
4.  Paste the EXACT Street Address and search Google Maps



5.   When your map comes up, click on the "Link" button on the upper right corner to display the hyperlink to your business listing:



6.  Copy the link into a text editor.  The text looks like this:

7.   The Latitude and Longitude that GOOGLE uses in shown in RED and GREEN.  Notice that the GREEN number is negative.
8.  Use these two numbers for the GEO tags on the Home Page of your website.

Do GEO Tags Matter?

Some have said that GEO tags on a website do not matter.  You can even find some articles where Google says that they ignore these tags.  In my opinion, regardless of what Google says, GEO tags will be important to ensure that your website shows properly in local search.

I have a hunch that adds GEO tags will be a benefit to car dealers as well as creating more external links to your Google Business listing page.  Time will tell...

HomeNet offering a free Video Online customers - 30 day trail.

March 2, 2010 (West Chester, PA) – HomeNet announces the release of enhancements to its Video Online Marketing Suite that allows dealers who are creating live video ads for their vehicle inventory to turn each video into hundreds of still images, which can then be transferred into its Inventory Online Marketing Suite and automatically associated to the vehicle for distribution to the dealer’s website and online classifieds.

“Today, top dealerships are spending the extra time to shoot live video of their vehicles instead of using traditional picture-to-video products. They realize that this small investment of time turns every video into a mini-commercial, which allows the dealership to really ‘sell the car,’” says Tim James, Director of Sales at HomeNet. “This can dramatically increase the emotional response from the consumer and drive a lot of traffic.”

Click to expand...

Video Online’s Live Video Upload feature allows a dealer to upload their own video footage of a vehicle from within HomeNet’s IOL Inventory Marketing Suite, associate that video with the vehicle, and webIOL then distributes the video to the dealer’s website, YouTube, and online classifieds along with each vehicle’s marketing data, including the vehicle Installed and Enhanced Options, Vehicle Description and Dealer Comments, Vehicles Photos, etc.

“Without Video Online,“ James adds, “dealers still have had to take individual photos of each vehicle to attach to their Internet ads and distribute throughout the Internet. Video Online’s video-to-still-images feature removes that extra step and saves the dealership a lot of time.”.

Click to expand...

When the dealer chooses to “create still images”, Video Online will automatically slice the video into hundreds of high quality still images from which the dealer may select. In a matter of seconds, the dealer has as many or few of the images as desired and may push those images to that vehicle’s content management section inside of IOL.

“This is huge, and it will be the standard for all dealerships,” said Tim Jennings, Internet Director of Tom Sparks Toyota in Dekalb, IL. “I shoot a lot of actual videos for my inventory, and being able to turn those videos into high quality, still images will save me the 30 minutes it takes me to also shoot, name, and upload pictures for that vehicle. With that time, I can shoot even more videos.”

HomeNet’s Video Online (VOL) Marketing Suite is a Video Based Internet Marketing System that allows automotive dealerships to create dynamic video commercials for every vehicle in their inventory. By utilizing HomeNet’s Inventory Online (IOL) Internet Marketing Suite, Video Online offers features like API-driven automated video creation and Live Video upload which allow dealers to take actual videos of their inventory and quickly upload them to their webIOL data files, allowing virtually real-time display on HomeNet IOL Hosting platform which many dealers use as their “online display” of their inventory for their websites.

HomeNet is offering a free 30-day trial to new Video Online customers.

About HomeNet
HomeNet Automotive helps the automobile industry save time and sell more vehicles and is proud to be recognized as a “Top 10 in 2010 Companies to Watch” by AutoSuccess Magazine. It is the leading provider of inventory merchandising, management and marketing services, led by its flagship product, Inventory Online (IOL) Internet Marketing Suite. IOL is a web-based vehicle marketing solution that helps tens of thousands of automotive dealers to engage buyers online and bring them into the showroom ready to buy by streamlining the process of converting raw vehicle data into consumer-friendly and emotional online ads. With 135 employees, HomeNet has garnered a spot on the "Inc. 1000" for the second year in a row, its third recognition by the prestigious magazine in as many years. HomeNet is a private company based in West Chester, PA, with offices across the U.S. For more information, please visit www.homenetauto.com or call 877-738-3313.

How you recruit and hire your dealership Sales, Internet and BDC professionals, sets the performance “tone” for your entire dealership. A few months ago I wrote "Change Please – Who We Hire and How We Hire". In that article I introduced to you the concept of an effective Employee Life Cycle System (ELCS) - something very few dealers have in place to consistently refer to when recruiting, hiring and managing their employees. An ELCS is a systematic objective process that once implemented will help you to:

1. Attract better qualified job applicants
   
2. Decrease your recruiting time
   
3. Conduct more effective interviews
   
4. Effectively motivate, develop and manage your dealer employees (in less than 2 hours per year per employee!)
   
5. Decrease the cost of your recruiting
   
6. Decrease your turnover and the high costs associated with it…….

My four part series will provide you a comprehensive Employee Life Cycle System you can implement in your store immediately. In this first article I will address Recruiting - how to attract qualified sales and customer service professionals to YOUR jobs!

Lets get started!

Recruiting for your Dealership

Consistently recruiting top talent does not depend solely on luck. It takes planning. To “plan” a more effective recruiting campaign there are four key areas that need to be followed to dramatically improve your likelihood of attracting a higher caliber job applicant. These areas are:

1- Job description – (knowing what you are looking for)
2- Employment ad – (short, concise and effective)
3- Recruiting venues- (fish where the fish are)

Creating a Job Description

Create an accurate thorough job description for the position at your dealership which you are hiring - you can’t “find” what you don’t know you are looking for!

If your store does not have job descriptions for every position within it then now is the time to start. Creating a job description sets clear cut expectations for the employee and an important tool when managing your employees.

A job description should include:

• Job responsibilities
  
• Required education
  
• Required experience
  
• Skill requirements
  
• Ability requirements

Be sure to include the job title, as well as whom this person reports to and the date in which the description was created. Engage other managers who might have valuable input for this job description so everyone is singing off the same hymn book.

Dealer Employment Ads

Once a job description has been complete, you are now ready to write an effective employment ad. Creating an effective and compelling employment ad using your job requirements will make employment ad writing easier than ever!

An effective format for a dealership Sales, Internet and or BDC professionals should include:

• Job Title
  
• Job Tasks and Requirements
  
• Company Information- i.e. Tenure, CSI/SSI scores, repeat and referral business and community involvement
  
• Application Steps in your hiring process - make sure to clearly direct the applicant to how they should apply i.e. website, email, fax cover letter and resume. Refrain from having the applicant “stop” with open “application periods”, this is a less than professional approach.

Oh and whatever you do, do not state compensation numbers in job ads! Premature, very tacky and old school!

Quick SAMPLE AD Start

Internet Sales Representative

ABC Dealership in NW Indiana is currently accepting applications for the position of Internet Sales Professional. The professional we are in search of will possess impeccable time management skills, second to none relationship building ability and an attention to detail only a proven track record can validate. Excellent computer, phone and communication skills an absolute must.

ABC Dealership is proud and protective of our award winning customer satisfaction levels, our robust sales and will be adding another professional to our team to maintain these standards while continuing to grow our dealerships business.

We are second to none, and are in search of the sales representative who is second to none as well. If you have experienced success in these areas, please apply!

Please apply via our website www.abcdealership.com click on “career opportunities”

Or

Please apply by faxing your resume and a cover letter to: 555-555-5555 Attention Mr.Smith (No phone calls please)

Quick SAMPLE AD Start

Recruiting Venues

Think outside of the box - stop going to the same watering hole expecting to attract different fish!

Refrain from newspapers. Use online job search venues, shop and compare cost and exposure.

Implement an employee referral program. Employee referral programs are less expensive and more successful than conventional employment searches, long term.

Hold a job fair - dealerships not only get great results for their current job opening(s) but are also well on their way of creating an ongoing applicant pool for future hiring needs. Use local colleges and their job search student resources.

Always be recruiting! When you are out and about and you run into that “super customer service friendly clerk” at your local super retailer - give him or her your card and ask them to apply!

Make sure you set the stage at the time of recruiting for a long and mutually beneficial “employee life cycle”. You can easily attract a better qualified applicant to your employment campaign - the question is after their first meeting with you or your point person at the store will they care if they ever hear from you again? Did you give the applicant a favorable impression?

Accurate, clear and honest representation of your dealership and the job is the key during the recruiting process in order to set the right expectation for the job applicant. If the correct expectation(s) are not set you will be setting yourself up for the disappointment that comes when you think you hired a winner and false expectations creates a “whiner”.

There are two things you can do in order to prevent unrealistic expectations during the initial faze of recruiting. First make sure that the store and/or the position is not over sold. Big promises of high earnings early in the game which are unrealistic become a major blow to a new hire once they are on board. Sending false messages about the culture of a store (i.e. training, support, managements involvement when there really isn’t any) runs neck and neck with false earning expectations. These mistakes are sure fire paths to turnover.

In my opinion we have never had a better applicant pool available for our dealership jobs than we do today. We just need to roll up our sleeves and put our game plans in place to attract them to our stores, then select them effectively.

In the next article Screening and Interviewing I will outline step by step how to screen and interview each and every candidate in ½ the time you are used to with a 100% increase in efficiency.

http://www.dealerrefresh.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/mustang_testdrive.jpg

Why does buying a vehicle have to be such a disappointment? My last two car shopping experiences have been less than pleasurable.

Three years ago my Acura TL was coming off lease and it was time to start shopping for a new car. Since my previous two vehicles had been Acura’s, I was ready for something different. My experience with Acura had always been top notch, so I guess you could say I was spoiled.

I had the itch for a convertible and decided one Saturday morning to stop by a Ford dealership. I told the salesman who greeted me that I was interested in checking out a GT convertible. He proceeded to walk me outside where he pointed out several on the lot. I informed him I would like to drive one to get a feel for the car and see if it was something I really wanted. We went back inside and he ventured off to the sales tower. When he came back he informed me that they did not have any to drive since the three they had were sold. I told him it didn’t have to be a convertible; a hard top would at least let me get a feel for the car. Back to the sales tower he went, when he returned I was informed the GT’s were sold out as well. I told him, “thanks anyways” and left. Needless to say, I was not happy about that experience.

The following Monday I ventured off to another Ford dealership in an attempt to get a proper demonstration of the Mustang. This time I got an eager salesperson willing to take me on a test drive. If what I am about to share with you does not sell you on the value of a test drive, then I don’t know what will! As I turned out of the dealership driveway I noticed the brute power of the car, it felt good! The sound of the engine was intoxicating. As I shifted through the gears, I envisioned myself driving the car down the road on a warm summer day with the top down. I was convinced even before returning to the dealership that this was the car I wanted to own. I sat down, worked out a deal that I was happy with and took delivery three days later.

I thought back to my prior experience at the other dealership and decided to write the owner a letter. I had hoped that they could learn from my experience and provide future prospects with a better experience. Three weeks went by and I heard nothing. Then one day I got a call from the GM of that Ford store. He proceeds to quiz me. One of his questions: “why didn’t you tell my sales representative that you wanted to buy one?” I told him that I didn’t know I wanted to buy the car until I drove it and fell in love with it. Then I explained to him that a customer shouldn’t have to inform the salesperson that they want to buy a car in order to be taken on a test drive. I was then verbally assaulted on the phone, which resulted in me hanging up on him. How that store remained in business as long as it did is beyond me. I am however pleased to inform you that they were forced to sell to a competing dealer who is well known for her excellent customer service.

This now brings us to the present and pending lease expiration on my Mustang. Six weeks ago I had to bring my car in for an inspection sticker. While I was waiting, I made my way to the show room to check out the new ones. To my surprise the salesperson who had sold me the car was still there. Of course I had not heard from him but once since I took delivery. I told him my lease was going to be up soon and that I would be interested in possibly leasing another one. Since he was getting ready to do a delivery, he told me he would work up some numbers and call me back later that day. After two days with no phone call I picked up the phone and called him. He apologized and said he was extremely busy and promised he would call me back shortly. Later that day he called me back and informed me that Ford was no longer leasing the Mustang. He told me that he thought they would be coming out with a program shortly and he would call me back. You guessed it, I have not heard from him since.

Last week I decided to check out the Infiniti G37 Convertible. The sales manager who runs the store was somebody I had worked with prior to becoming a trainer, so no issues with getting excellent service. They took me on a test drive and gave me a quote that was reasonable. Not being 100% sold on the car, I decided to think about it. One of the things that I did not like was the sound of the engine when operating in the higher RPM range. It sounded nothing like the Mustang which was what I was accustomed to.

After thinking about it for a few days, I decided to go with the Infiniti. On my way back to the Infiniti dealer a funny thing happened, my car somehow drove itself to a Ford dealership two miles from the Infiniti dealership. I should also mention that this Ford dealership was the one that previously owned the other Ford store where I had my prior bad experience.

I entered the showroom and after five minutes of standing around by myself, I decide to walk outside and look at a car in the front row. Another five minutes go by and still nobody to speak with. At this point I am now thinking this was a bad idea visiting this particular dealership. I started walking back to my car, but the lure of the Mustang pulled me back to the showroom. Finally somebody greets me; I proceed to tell the sales rep that my Mustang is coming off lease and that I might be interested in leasing another one. I inquired if Ford was leasing again and he was unable to answer my question. How can a Ford sales rep not know what’s going on -- this is ridiculous! He has me sit down at his desk while he inquires. He comes back and tells me “no” but we do have zero percent financing with some really nice rebates, why don’t we work you up a payment on a purchase. I agreed to consider a purchase even though I’ve grown accustomed to leasing. He then asks me to fill out a form; I notice it’s a credit application. My reply: “why would you have me fill this out, I haven’t agreed to anything yet?” He tells me he needs to run my credit to figure a payment. I then told him he was @#%$&@ nuts if he thought I was going to let him run my credit before agreeing upon a deal. He then proceeds to inquire about my needs, which of course is a good plan. I tell him what I would consider for options and off he goes to see his manager. I am guessing he’s having his manager run some payments for me, but not this joker; nope, he’s off running a vehicle locater for Mustangs. So he comes back with a few vehicles which don’t even come close to what I am looking for. I then tell him “don’t you think we should agree on a price before you waste your time looking for a vehicle?”

While he’s off touching base with his manager again, I notice a Joe Verde training manual sitting on the floor behind his desk. I have to chuckle since this proves my theory that all the training in the world won’t make you a better salesperson. It takes discipline and commitment to want to get better. If there’s no accountability or measurement device in place, there’s no way you can expect improvement.

Upon his return he actually gives me what I am looking for, and surprisingly it was an attractive offer. Now he’s got my attention, I am actually thinking it’s going to be the Mustang and not the G37.

The Mustang’s had been changed a little since I bought mine, so I figured I had better drive one and see what’s new and improved. One of the things I had always disliked about my current Mustang was that the hood flexed and twisted when driving at higher speeds on the highway. The car did not have very good aero dynamics. It appears Ford fixed this issue with the newer models.

Well you’ll never guess what this guy tells me when I inform him that I wanted to drive one? Are you ready for this? “We don’t let customers drive the GT’s until they agree to buy one.” I should have just got up and walked out right then and there, but I wanted to beat some sense into this knuckle head, so I proceeded to share the story about my past experience at his sister store which they no longer owned. He then folded and agreed to take me for a test drive. When are these salespeople and managers going to realize that the test drives sell the car? Once again, I felt the strong desire to own one after the demo.

Now I had to decide, would it be the Mustang or the G37? The only thing keeping the G37 in the picture was the fact that I liked the lines and luxurious feel of the car. Cons, there was no room to store my golf clubs with the top down. Also, I wasn’t overly crazy about the sound of the engine when accelerating aggressively.

Part of me wanted to go back and drive the G37 again, but I decided to explore the Mustang more. I was close to pulling the trigger. I told the rep to see if he could get me the color combination I wanted. He came back and told me there were no cars available in black or candy apple red with a tan interior. I truly believe they were trying to sell me the car in stock which I did not want. I told him to call me if he found one and then left the dealership. I would have bought the car right then and there had they come back and told me they could get me the one I wanted. He called me ten minutes later and asked if I would consider another color and I suggested he keep looking. It’s been four days since that happened and I’ve yet to hear back from him. I don’t think he realized how close he was to selling me a car.

If he ever calls me back he’s going to get the, “you did” call since I ended up going back to the Infiniti dealer later that day and purchased the G37.

What should you take away from my experience?

1. Treat customers with respect!
   
2. Strongly suggest a demo, don’t wait for your customer to ask you.
   
3. Do not skip steps! Sell the value in yourself, your dealership and the vehicle before quoting price!
   
4. Do everything in your power to sell the customer while they are in your dealership.
   - Managers, TO your customer before they leave since your sales rep might not always be telling you the whole story.
   - Customers are often at the “tipping point” and a gifted sales team will find a way to tip the customer in their direction.
   
5. Always follow-up with your customers no matter what you think. What you are thinking and what the customer is thinking are quite often two completely different thoughts. Bridge that gap with a follow-up conversation.

Do you have a similar experience to share? -- when did you realize the test drive was crucial to the sales?